THEONESTE MANIRAGUHA has regularly been left confused whenever he witnesses a village-mate being arrested and released the following day, often without a charge.

The resident of Byimana Sector, Ruhango District, who serves as the in-charge of security in his village, says he has witnessed security raids against producers and traders of illicit  brew that stroll on the market across the country.

"What amazes me is that the moment they are arrested you know they will be back the next morning,” he said. "They never spend days [in jail] before they are released and return to their businesses as usual.”

The people Maniraguha is referring to are mainly suspected producers or traders in the common locally-made but banned alcoholic beverages.

The brews have been declared illegal, either because they are suspected to have a high alcoholic percentage or because they pause serious health risks to consumers.

Famous among them are the notorious kanyanga, nyirantare, muriture, igikwangari and many more-with names varying according to area of production, process and raw materials used.

However, although some of the beverages are manufactured in the country, officials warn that  a portion of them, particularly the likes of kanyanga, are smuggled in from neighbouring countries through porous border points.

Health experts warn that drug abuse has serious health effects such as mental problems and heart-related difficulties.

The illicit brews particularly are said to be fuelling domestic conflicts, gender-based violence and other criminal acts, including physical assault and in rare cases, murder.

The Police have been working with local leaders, central government officials, non-governmental organisations and the church to organise campaigns against drug abuse, mainly urging the public against engaging in the manufacture or consumption of the ‘risky’ beverages.

But as the business seems to keep flourishing, security organs often resort to ‘iron hand’ strategies to enforce the law and maintain order.

It has become a routine for security operatives, often working on information provided by local leaders and residents, to raid homes where such beverages are suspected to be manufactured and/or sold.

In such security swoops, those involved in the business are arrested and their products confiscated.

Most often, the culprits are detained for a few days before they are released, while the illicit brew is destroyed in public, in what the Police consider as a sensitisation tool against the manufacture and consumption of such brew.

Lenient penalty

But the strategy is proving to be less impacting as the liquors remain present on the market.

Observers blame the lack of a stronger legal framework to severely punish those involved in the making and trade of such brews for the continued   flow of the illegal business.

Although Rwanda’s penal code criminalises the unlawful use of narcotics, observers argue the law still has gaps that are being exploited by dealers to evade the wrath of justice.

The law bans the "growing, selling, transformation, transportation, storage and consumption of narcotic drugs except in cases and conditions specified by law” and punishes such offences with "a term of imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of Rwf500,000 to Rwf5 million.

Observers believe the sentence is too lenient to push dealers and manufacturers out of the business which is said to be highly lucrative.

Even Police seem to agree.

Police spokesperson Damas Gatare says the law is less severe to discourage illegal drug makers, traders and consumers.

"It is a big challenge that we face,” Gatare says.

However, he believes awareness should be the first strategy to discourage the making and consumption of illicit brews.

The other measure, he added, is the need for deterrent punishment.

"Laws should be reviewed to include much tougher punishment,” Gatare says, warning that the drugs "pose serious health risks to the population, the country’s growth and destroys the social fabric of the Rwandan community.

But apart from the seeming leniency of the laws, the lack of a comprehensive list of all the liquors classified as illegal is also said to be frustrating efforts to prosecute the offenders and put an end to the problem.

Ministerial order in the offing

The penal code stipulates that a ministerial order of the minister in charge of health should specify substances classified as narcotic drugs.

But the list is yet to be published as the ministerial order is pending approval by the Cabinet, officials say.

According to Spencer Bugingo, a legal expert with the Ministry of Health, a ministerial order determining substances classified as narcotics has been drafted and is set to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.

If adopted, the order will stipulate that any drink with more than 45 per cent of alcoholic content will be considered a narcotic and punishable, the official said.

"It goes against the content rather than the various brand names [of the varied illicit brews] that can change any time and make it again more difficult to prosecute,” Bugingo said.

"It will be easy for the Police to crack down on the dealers and for the prosecution to bring them to book.”

In addition Bugingo believes the Rwanda Food and Medicine Authority (RFMA), expected to be set up soon, will play an important role in fighting the production and sale of the illicit beverages to the public.

RFMA will have a mandate to regulate the different food products and pharmaceutical products on the Rwandan market.

In conjunction with the Rwanda Bureau of Standards, RFMA will ensure that all food products and beverages available on the market meet required standards and do not pose any threat to consumers.

"The public should also understand that their role in this struggle is crucial. They should support security organs in their efforts to end the trade and desist from engaging in such unlawful businesses or consuming such products,” he said.